


Truth Hurts (or: The Return of Grandma Esther's Ugly Sweater)

by theartofdreaming



Series: Grandma Esther's ugly sweater [2]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-06
Updated: 2016-05-06
Packaged: 2018-06-06 15:12:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6759127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theartofdreaming/pseuds/theartofdreaming
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A West-slash-Allen-Movie-Marathon… as well as the return of Grandma Esther’s ugly sweater</p>
            </blockquote>





	Truth Hurts (or: The Return of Grandma Esther's Ugly Sweater)

_ * **Clank** *  _

Iris had just thrown her keys unerringly into the small ceramic bowl on the bureau by the front door while entering Barry's and her apartment, a glance on her watch informing her that she barely had made it on time.

“HA! Are you ready for the madness that is **THE** West-slash-Allen-Movie-Marathon? You better have the popcorn ready... And I hope you made one bowl for yourself, mister, 'cause I ain't gonna share – not after you ate all of the popcorn in 4 seconds last time!” Iris announced happily, letting her bag unceremoniously plunge to the floor. No reaction.

“Bear?” 

Nothing.

Iris's eyes scanned the room for any sign that could clue her in about the whereabouts of her boyfriend: hmm... the DVDs were already stacked on the coffee table, so he actually must have been here before her (he had been on time!) and – was she smelling brownies? A short stroll to the kitchen affirmed that – a pan of freshly baked brownies was sitting on the counter. Iris licked her lips unconsciously – the brownies were still pretty warm, so Barry must have left just before her arrival... And, as there were no shoes missing from the wardrobe, there was only one reason left to explain his absence...

As if on cue, Iris' cellphone rang; caller I.D. informed her that it was Cisco.

Sighing, she answered: “Hey, Cisco.”

“Hi Iris,” the S.T.A.R. Labs engineer replied, sounding a bit sheepish, “ehm, Barry asked me to tell you that he will be late for... ehm, movie night? He's a little... held up.. literally, there is a robbery at Central City National Bank...”

Iris couldn't help but roll her eyes at Cisco's (most likely intended) pun: ”It's fine, I guessed something like that already... Just inform Barry to hurry up and come back in one piece” - she really wished that she was one hundred percent joking, but Barry had a way to incur the most drastic injures and speed-healing or not, it was still freaking Iris out at times - “I _will_ blame him for not preventing me from eating all of the brownies on my own...” She could hear a snort from the other end of the line as well as an, “will do”, before Cisco said good-bye and hung up.

Iris plopped down on the couch and let out another sigh. She really had been looking forward to their movie night – actually, she had been looking forward to spending some alone-time with Barry, period. 

This week had been super-busy; either she had been occupied with investigations for the newspaper or he had been working at the police station or running around as the Flash... that way, they hadn't been able to spend half as much time as they were used to and Iris was missing Barry like crazy (which was kind of weird, considering that they were living together nonetheless, but hurried conversations over breakfast cereal and equally hurried hello- and good-bye kisses just didn't cut it).

Having to wait another hour shouldn't bother her so much, but all the anticipation that had been building up with the passing of every single hour, left her with an aching feeling in the chest.

And it would surely take Barry another hour or so (maybe just 40 minutes, if she was lucky), even if he already had taken care of the bank robbery by now... On his way back home he's going to encounter at least seven different incidents that required his attention... Iris loved that Barry cared about everyone and used his powers to help, but days like this made her wish that he was a teeny-tiny bit more self-centered... only, that this wasn't true.

She rose from the sofa and trudged to the bedroom to change into some more comfortable clothes. After getting on a pair of sweat pants she rummaged the dresser for a comfy sweater; it was kinda cold, after all... She didn't find anything in her drawer that was fitting her mood, so she decided to have a look at Barry's clothes. Just when she decided to fish out one of the S.T.A.R. Labs pullovers he owned, her eyes got caught on something very interesting... 

With an impish smile she put on the S.T.A.R. Labs sweater, that smelled like Barry (that alone would have been enough to lift her spirits) and pulled out the item in question... Then she made her way to the kitchen to prepare the snacks and get the popcorn done, whistling an upbeat melody.

* * *

 

Only twenty minutes later, Iris heard the familiar “whoosh” - sound that announced Barry's arrival.

“Sorry, I'm soo sorry for being so late, but I couldn't make it sooner – well, maybe if I hadn't spotted or just ignored that missing parrot on my way home, but – you should have seen the face of that little kid when I dropped that bird off, he was soo happy to get his pet back (although I'm a little concerned by how many swear words the parrot of an eight-year-old knows nowadays) and-”

“It's alright, Bear,” Iris interrupted his rambling, leaning over the backrest of the couch to calm him down with a kiss. “I just finished the preparations for our movie-marathon, so you are just on time.” 

Her eyes twinkled with mischief and naturally, Barry noticed that.

“Why do I have the feeling that you just discovered some kind of blackmailing material?” he asked cautiously, fidgeting.

“I wouldn't call it blackmailing material,” the journalist assured him, grinning, “but I didn't expect to find **a very peculiar thing** in your drawer...” Now, Barry just looked utterly confused.

“How about you take off your suit,“ Iris nodded to the Flash costume that he was still wearing, “and change into... this!” And with a flourish, she produced the ugly sweater from Grandma Esther.

“Aww, man, you'll never let me live this down, won't you?” Barry shook his head in disbelief, chiming in Iris's giggles, nevertheless.

“Never,” she laughed, “you were about to go to school in this... _thing_!”

Barry rolled his eyes good-naturedly and shortly disappeared in a blur. When Iris could see him clearly again, he had changed into some gray sweat pants but was still wearing the upper part of his suit. He extended his hand with a grin: “Let me amuse you.”

Iris beamed at him and threw the sweater into his face gleefully. Barry changed into Grandma Esther's self-knit pullover at normal speed, jumped over the backrest and plopped down right next to Iris on the sofa.

“Happy?” he asked, snatching a brownie from the pile on the coffee table (hadn't he baked more?) and stuffed it into his mouth.

“My hero,” Iris teased, kissing brownie crumbs off the corner of his mouth.

“Let's be honest: you love the brownies more than me!” he fake-huffed dramatically, breaking out the puppy-dog-pout.

“The truth hurts,” Iris shrugged, trying to look nonchalant, her sparkling eyes betraying her, “but not as much as-”

“this sweater hurts your eyes, I know,” Barry finished the sentence for her, smirking. “That day, you made quite clear how hideous it is,” he went on, grabbing some chips.

“I was just trying to protect you,” Iris defended herself, grabbing the collection of DVDs – if they wanted to make it through the usual three to four movies, they better got started soon. 

“You wouldn't have survived that day at school – and teasing you is soo entertaining,” she flashed him another grin before she turned her attention back to the DVDs, trying to bring them into the perfect order to watch. “Besides, I might have used the opportunity to sneak a peek while you were changing,” she added sheepishly, while Barry nearly choked on the chips.

“What?” He asked, still coughing, eyes wide.

“Not like I'd never seen you shirtless before, but it was kinda fun when you were so unsuspecting,” Iris shrugged, finally content with how the DVDs were assorted.

Barry still looked at her in disbelief.

“Come on Bear, we were teenagers and hormones were raging in our bodies and even though you were ridiculously scrawny and these,”she poked him in the stomach, where the ugly sweater obscured his abs, “are now very much appreciated,” Iris gave him a flirtatious smile, “you were still very handsome. 

So,” she continued and got up to stride to the tv, while Barry was still looking completely flabbergasted, “how about we get this ' _ **Movies-based-on-Roald-Dahl-books-Marathon**_ ' started?”

 

** Fin. **

 

**Author's Note:**

> "Movies-based-on-Roald-Dahl-books-Marathon" is quite a mouthful, but I have some very specific reasons for that:  
> 1) themed movie marathons are the best  
> 2) I feel like Iris would really enjoy film adaptations of books (as long as they are good, of course)  
> 3) any nerdy marathons like Star Wars or Harry Potter would include Cisco (and Caitlin as well)  
> 4) I can easily imagine little Barry and Iris watching Mathilda, The Witches, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Gremlins together - all those movies/books are set in an apparently ordinary world where extraordinary, impossible things happen... Don't tell me that they wouldn't be into these kind of movies ;)


End file.
